Preserving the Past of a Madman
by xMechaSheikx
Summary: This is what happens when you start getting weird theory ideas from new map packs. This is a story that details the life of Edward Richtofen, but there's just a bit of a twist. His childhood is not what you expect and just how old is the guy. Well this is a weird story based on a theory that popped into my head seeing the statues in Origins. WARNING: VERY IDEOLOGICALLY SENSITIVE!
1. Chapter 1

_"In all of my efforts to preserve my own legacy, I may have very well doomed it for all eternity. Though I cannot say it is truly my fault for becoming such a depraved yet spectacular being, I was pushed to the edge by something more 'inhuman' than what I have become. It is to you that I entrust this knowledge of my long and arduous past, and I pray that you may never befall the fate that has been thrust upon myself." -Edward Richtofen_

As a child I had always wondered what exactly went on during the night, though many of the priests of the church had warned that only evil lurks I had to see for myself in order to truly believe their pious words. At the tender age of twelve my wanderlust took hold one fateful November night, when the moon was its fullest and the air was crisp between the bare trees of the coming winter. My mother and father as well as my little sister were fast asleep, but I was wide awake wandering through the twisted trees of the forest lit only by ivory light. With quiet footsteps I traversed the damp, leafy ground and explored the foreign woods of the night. Nocturnal creatures greeted my trespassing with hoots and cricks along with the ocassional, yet far flung howl of the wolves miles away from where I was.

A brief and hushed conversation graced my ears and my curiosity peaked, who could possibly be out here (other than myself) at such a late hour? My questions were soon answered as I carefully hid myself behind a group of trees and watched as a congregation of ragged men stood at a small clearing. They wore tunics of simple folk, ruddy cloth trousers, and more than enough wore no boots or slippers at all. What would these men be doing in the middle of the woods on such a night? Thinking back to all the stories I had heard about the "Devil servants of the night" it got me wondering which kinds of "servants" they were.

Their clothing helped me narrow down the options and their rough appearances gave me the correct answer just before the real scary stuff started to happen. Piercing howls and cries of pain screamed out into the November night air as the men all writhed in agony, their bodies contorting into misshapen twists and angles. Their faces elongated into inhuman porportions and formed into wolvish snarls and grins, their pale skins turned to rough-hewn fur and eyes turned feral like a wild beast's. Werewolves they were, wild, dangerous, and horrifying aspects of ferocity and for my young mind the shock of seeing this terrorizing transformation was too much.

I remember waking up back home in my parent's bedroom with my father glaring daggers into my very soul. Father was a man of great, intimidating bearing and I immediately succumbed to fear even though he hadn't even voiced his displeasure with my sneaking out. He and I looked a lot alike, but by no means did we think alike. Father was a man of the church, believing in the Bible word for word and he could care less what his "Godless son" had to say about anything especially the "far-fetched fantasies of a boy that would never grow up to be a man of any worth".

I was punished severely for my deviation, but a few lashings of a horse whip was nothing compared to what I was forced to do at the church. Verdammt how I hated going to church, not that I didn't believe in God or anything (which sometimes I don't), but the damned churches were always so hypocritical. Praying for the poor and the needy and preaching their warnings to do good deeds "so that you may be pure in the eyes of our Lord and Saviour" whilst they built lavish churches gilded in gold and decked in marble and waged war on those who dared question the authority of God or the church. Never did I voice those opinions outloud, such an outburst would have surely costed me my life.

There at the church I was forced to copy scriptures and psalms in order to "renounce my coming heresy and to get God to forgive my sins by writing his holy words". Complete crap, that's what I thought of it and I was never happier to get that out of the way. To say the least my childhood was not the best, even though my family was quite wealthy I was never the prized child. That's why my father was always trying for another son to take my place, with some dark luck he never succeeded on account of my mother, after having Angelica (my sister) had rendered her infertile. Even my mother was not kind to me, when father was gone she was as bad as him, setting strict schedules and limiting my curious mind to the solemn and boorish words of the Bible as father often did.

My education, however, was the highlight of my young life, learning mathematics and alchemy which would later be known as science was a pure delight to me. This was a red herring to my parent's both of which were convinced during my early teens that I had completely forsaken God and turned to heresy as a slave to Satan's will. They tormented me in the only way they knew would work, they punished me by sending me to church and doing the duties of the monks. It was a grave mistake that eventually pushed my teenage mind over the brink and thus led to their deaths. A hot, July midnight and a few rugged outlaws taking refuge in the forest were all I needed to cover my deed from being pinned onto me.

After all I was asleep with my fellow monks-in-training when the blaze consumed my home and the flames devoured my ungrateful parents or so everyone in the town thought. My sister Angelica lived due to the fact that she was visiting the home of another noble family in the town on the other side of the river (my father had insisted on getting her to marry at an early age due to my "shortcomings"). This was the perfect time to fake my enlightenment to the words of God and repent against my previous heresy. That got me out of the church's regiment and let me live a life of my own and I took the only way I knew that I could. I left my hometown for the rare establishments of learning in the country.

It was at the age of sixteen that I started to realize just how much the church would meddle in my affairs once more. Tensions had been rising in the Holy Land for many years now and that set off one of the most brutal and one-sided campaigns in human history, the Crusades. And yes, I was forced to fight for God, because I was a healthy young man and it was "my duty to fight the heretics in the Holy Lands". With the last of my inheritance money and weight of my noble name I was able to prolong the inevitable for quite some time, but it was inevitable after all and I was carted to the Middle East. It was there that the steps to my "transformation" began even if I didn't realize it at the time.

_ "Ah, yes so you see my childhood is a bit different than yours, hmm? That's the least of it just think of all the things I've seen in my 'lifetime' and imagine just how much I really know." -Edward Richtofen_


	2. Chapter 2

_"To my displeasure I have to note that not all of you speak Deutsch, so I've taken the liberty of translating my entries into a modern English format, but due to the age and style of the writing it was a bit tricky getting the right sense of format. But I digress." -Edward Richtofen_

May 21st, 1187

After a whole month of travel around the Meditteranean Sea our Crusade has finally made it to the Middle East. We lost a few due to sickness caught along the way, but no matter. Our numbers are still strong, but I know that this whole war is pointless, these Middle Easterners live in these lands and therefore have the advantage. We Europeans on the other hand have to waste our time having to get to the damned wasteland were Jerusalem and Acre lie. But there is really no time to complain, this place is dangerous nonetheless, even though I for one never wanted to get sent here in the first place.

I am part of the Third Crusade on behalf of the Prince of Bavaria who, if you ask me is a complete idiot. A man of my skills and rank does not belong here, but when you're the last retainer of your family's bloodline I guess it's all for honor and glory. Complete bullshit. Half the men I'm with are commoner's taken from their parents in the name of God to serve his divine purposes. Though I may not be as old as some of those around me, I still manage to strike an air of maturity. When you realize how futile religion is you start to gain a bit more insight than the rest of the crop.

May 28th, 1187

A week here and this place already feels like Hell, the weather is nothing like my homeland or Europe for that matter. It's extremely hot during the day and thanks to the damn chainmail and plate armor it makes it all the more miserable. The nights are freezing cold, sometimes even worse than the winters in the Alps and again the armor is no protection for the elements, it doesn't retain heat. Many of the men I came here with are already beginning to doubt their reasons and effectiveness here. They have realized too late, however, I already knew that it was a futile effort here.

June 3rd, 1187

There was an attack on Acre today by Saladin's men and it couldn't have been more of a wake up call to the others of just how unfair this war was to us Europeans. Though we eventually triumphed we lost so many lives that my group is now down to fifteen of the original fourty including myself. They came swiftly and struck deft blows that cut down the most hardy of crusaders. Tales of the Muslims using "fiendish servants of the darkness" spread like wildfire through the remaining men.

And just think of how many more poor saps were coming along to join the fight, a hundred, a thousand. Let them come, and let them die, at least I know what it takes to stay alive in this hellhole.

June 14th, 1187

A close encounter with the Reaper today as I graced the crowded streets of Acre. An "assassin" as they call them tried to strike me down when I was bartering with a vendor for some food. I won the fight, but not without some cuts through the weak points of my armor. Surprisingly the people on the streets did not mind that the man had been killed, it must have been a common occurence in this land. I managed to finish my business and return to the barracks to rest and tend to my wounds.

June 29th, 1187

Saladin becomes more bold with every passing day, another attack was launched on Acre, luckily we had reinforcements with us. Unfortunately, I lost another chunk of the men who came along with me, leaving only myself and four others. The four that still survived are solemn and depressed now, they would rather take their own lives than fight another battle with the Muslims. They fear for their lives and I cannot blame them, even I am fearful that I may not make it out of this place alive.

November, 1187

I've lost track of time here in the deserts of the Middle East and there hasn't been much to write about or materials to write with. We had a visit from the church, a bishop (a very convinced fool in my opinion) had come to absolve us of our sins and any that we may commit further in this land of heretics. Though the men around me reviled in this "purity" of the Lord I did not, it was best not to. I had reason, while these others were slaves to circumstance and false hope. Many of them would die here anyway, might as well let them die without guilt right.

Feburary, 1188

Prisoners as far as the eye can see line the dungeon cells of Acre. Heretics, prostitutes, theives, you name it and they're here, writhing, some with grief, some with anger, and others sit contemplatively waiting for their release. I have walked through the rowdy corridors lined by bars and the groping hands of those who are trapped behind the souless iron beams. Many beg for their freedom with promises of money and for the females promises of passion. I have seen some of the men give into the exotic looks of the women here, but I do not sanction such acts, rather I restrain from such actions.

There are those behind the bars that grab at me and try to drag me in to inflict harm. I've had to kill more than few to establish some form of authority among the vagabonds.

_"It is after this entry that I neglected to write much at all, and the times I did it was less than eventful. Needless to say it was only the last year that I got back into the habit of writing again and by that time...well it was a pretty desperate time." -Edward Richtofen_


	3. Chapter 3

_ "The last year of the Third Crusade was brutal, but to be honest all of it was. For five years I toiled in the desert land for a cause I didn't believe in. I was more than happy to return home after that time." -Edward Richtofen_

March, 1192

So long had I fought in that Hellish land, so long had I watched men die all around me, so long had I witnessed foul acts the likes of which would make Saints faint from the pure evil of them. I have many scars of battle upon my weary body and torn soul and I cannot say that I was pure in my time in the Middle East. Though I never took to heart what Christianity had to teach and offer I could feel guilt eating at me still. I had killed many, innocent and guilty, friend and enemy alike. Even with my superior willpower I gave into temptation, but I made sure that I would have no bastard child left in that Hell of a land.

My return home was satisfying to say the least, no longer subject to the extremes of the climate and turbulence of the war that had, as I expected, ended in failure for us. I rode home upon horseback after reaching the coast of Italy, now titled a Templar for my outstanding survivablity, and apparent "service to God". I thought nothing of the name and rode on as those who wanted a hero to praise followed me giving me gifts that I did not want or did not need. As I passed through the Alps back into my homeland I was greeted by a familiar face.

My sister, Angelica, whom I'd not seen in seven years stood before me with her husband, Wilhelm of Wulfsburg and their two daughters aged five and three respectively. Now my sister was never really one to charity, but my status and time done in the Crusades must have put her in a mood for such a thing. She and Wilhelm gladly took me in and gave me all the amenities of home as well as a fair supply of money. When asked I would tell them of my tales in the Holy Lands, but I kept my stories censored greatly.

April 3rd, 1192

I took my leave from my sister and her husband's residence and made my way to make some place my own home.

April 15th, 1192

I finally settled in a nice hamlet outside of a town called Heidelburg, the people there are quiet and keep to themselves. Amazingly enough there is no church around either, what a boon to have for one of my tastes. I can't help but feel as though there is something off about the people here. I do like their quietness, but it unnerves me in the most peculiar manner. Nevertheless I took up residence in an old manor, left by a nobleman who passed away two years ago.

April 23rd, 1192

A strange man visited me in my home today, his name was Leopold von Heissenwerner. Though his intentions were quite cryptic I couldn't really refuse company, it was rude to do so, after all he'd travelled from Vienna to meet me. I had to wonder why, that was until he told me why he was here. Apparently there was an opening in a high ranking position in a secret sect of Templars (which as I was a Templar it applied to me). Leopold told me that it was an offer that I couldn't refuse and the benefits that he explained to me were very enticing.

I would be paid in great wealth if I took up this position and its reponsibilities, and it would give even more weight to my fading noble name. There was something else that influenced me to accept the offer, but I couldn't place my finger on it, before I could ask about anything else he left. At least there was no deadline in which I would have to get to Vienna, that gave me time to plan for my trip and prepare for what ever duties I would have in the position.

June 18th, 1192

Here in Vienna I was greeted by Leopold once more and he couldn't have been happier to see me. I was taken into the cathedral where I would be inducted into the sect in secret and set with my duties. In the catacombs of the cathedral there were three others, but they were of different descent than I and just what were they doing in Austria anyway? Leopold introduced me to the brash Brit Clarence Dempsey of Bath.

The man was not who I would have liked to be around, in fact I would rather had left then and there than to exchange niceties with these men, but I digress. Leopold also introduced me to a burly Russian man named Baron Alexei Belinski and then last a strange man of the Orient Haru Masaki. We were all hand selected by agents of the sect to defend an ancient and powerful mystery that lie within the earth of many places. Apparently these secrets were so powerful that Leopold stressed that "if man were to uncover such a thing again the consequences could bring about the apocalypse itself".

After the tense seminar we couldn't disagree with joining the sect in order to save humanity from this great and perilous power. A few obscure rituals and oaths later and we were anointed as Templars of the Ancient Powers.

_"It was after this entry that I stopped writing all together as my duties as a 'Templar of the Ancient Powers' took most of my time. It was also after my induction that I came ever closer to acheiving the 'transformation' that made me what I am today." -Edward Richtofen_


	4. Chapter 4

_ "Ah, yes the years of my twenties how vividly I remember them, I was younger, energetic, and ready for anything. Well, almost everything." -Edward Richtofen_

My induction into the Templars of the Ancient Powers was the midpoint of my journey into my "transformation". The four of us were sent to Northern France to a church that housed a site of this "ancient power". Leopold came with us and showed us the tunnels that ran for miles with strange runes and carvings written upon the rock. The main room was the one that was most appealing to us as many craftsman were inside with huge slabs of stone, chiseling away. He'd told us that we were actually the first to be inducted into this sect and therefore we deserved a way of honoring our choice to defend this great power.

The stone slabs would later become statues of myself, and the ancestors of Takeo, Nikolai, and Dempsey (which I have to say is really creepy that they look so much like them). It was here that I had my first real encounter with the glowing stone that would later become known as element 115. Originally dubbed Divinium by Leopold and continued through me (rather unsuccessfully, stupid Maxis) he stressed that we had to avoid long-term exposure or risk turning into inhuman beings. Upon investigated the matter further Leopold responded with a harsh warning.

"Should you meddle too long in the affairs of the otherworldly powers you shall fall beyond grace and beyond the grasp of reality."

How foolish I was back then, of course it was all mysticism and superstition back then. When humanity was ignorant of the whole world around them, myself included, for a time anyway. The four of us guarded the ancient place with utmost vigil for nearly three years. I was twenty-five when the craftsmen finished the statues of us. No doubt you seen them, shocking how one tends to stay that way after the "transformation".

It was also when I was twenty-five that the time came. Upon making my rounds around the village of which the ancient place was located I was ambushed by ungodly creatures. I snapped immediately and remembered from my childhood that things that I faced were werewolves. There were three of them and they snarled at me with hunger and lust to tear into some fresh meat. I fought as much as I could, but these were no mortal men, these were animals of the most feral kind.

Chainmail and plate armor would not suffice against their iron bending jaws and their flesh-rending claws. I had only managed to injure one of them so that he would retreat into the woods, but the other two had me beat. I was bleeding profusely, just barely able to hold my blade in my hands. As the werewolves lunged at me I knew it was useless to fight them off anymore, they would kill me easily now, that was until a blur of a human figure dashed in front of me and brought the beasts to the ground in one swift motion. I recognized it as Leopold, but how could he have stopped these beasts of monumental strength.

Two other people I'd never met joined the fight against the furred demons and fought them off into the forests. I had collapsed a long while ago as they fought, and I was very weak as they carried me off to some place I didn't know. I went unconscious before I got there and I was awakened by the familiar voice of Leopold. When I got up I noticed that I was healed back to perfect health, and I was definitely curious as to how and why. When I asked him his eyes betrayed a sense of fear, but nonetheless he told me anyway.

His words were this (translated from the old format of speaking and Deutsch) "We did not induct you into the sect for just any reason Edward. We've been watching you for a very long time, even in the Holy Lands we watched you. My kind and I have deemed that you and the other three are worthy of becoming one of us."

At first I had no idea what he meant, but as he explained more and more I thought back to my childhood once more and the old stories I was told then. Superhuman strength, unnatural charisma and for heaven's sake they were all pale as ice, why didn't I see it before. They were vampires, and they'd watched "me" of all people and deemed me as fit to join them. I couldn't believe it at the time, but Leopold gave me time to think all of it through. But my choice was heavily influenced by the fact that if I didn't accept the offer to be turned into a vampire he'd have to kill me.

It was a done deal, but Leopold gave me time to prepare for the event. It was a week later that I entered the church near the ancient place and there was Leopold who revealed to me that he was the vampire Prince of the area and that he'd been waiting for someone worthy to sire. We were not alone as three other vampires of great age joined to spectate the ceremony of the Embrace. I was given many revelations that I had no idea about in my life.

The fact that I had been fed on by Leopold since our arrival to the ancient place unnerved me a bit, but at least he'd done it in my sleep so I wouldn't take notice. The assassin I had killed back in the Middle East was turned into an Assamite assassin (an elite core of vampire contract killers) and that my sister had also married a vampire (yes, Wilhelm of Wulfsburg was indeed a vampire, though he was turned after he had the two daughters). He'd also gone through the basics of living as a vampire. No going into the sunlight, no revealing my true nature to humans, hunt with caution and with care, the works.

After the mandatory oral speech by his highness, the real process began. The process of the Embrace has been embedded in my mind ever since then, and I can never forget how it felt. To feel all of the blood in your body being drained while being put under the euphoric pleasure of the Kiss is maddening. And I really died, but the wonders of vitae (the vampire term for their blood) brought me back to unlife. All my organs had failed, my heart was no longer beating, but I was alive somehow.

Alive and severely hungry for blood, it all happened so fast after that. The cries of a false priest in terror as I lunged at his neck and drained him completely of the new sustenance was all so foreign, but now so welcome. Leopold, my sire, would keep me under his wing for ten years, before letting me out into vampire society on my own. But during those ten years the other three I was with refused the offer to become vampires, but instead of killing them Leopold erased their memories of ever having been in the ancient place or ever having meet Leopold and I at all.

When I left Leopold's domain to return back to the village in Heidelburg he gave me all the help I could ever need, including a few ghouls as lackies for daytime work and errands.

_"Looking back on it now, I believe that it was a confused decision, back then I was elated to become an immortal creature of the night, but as time drew on I realized just how naive I really was." -Edward Richtofen_


	5. Chapter 5

_"So you now know that I've been alive for over 750 years plus and that amounts to seeing many, many things change. Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse." -Edward Richtofen_

During my unlifetime I witnessed the Renaissance, and it was very enjoyable, the advances in reason over mysticism really excited me. The art I could care less, but the science that resulted was pure delight I took every opprotunity to learn what I could from the new information. Of course after a couple decades of looking the same does get a little suspicious I had to keep my appearances on the down low, not to mention I only appeared at conventions that took place during the night. Just because reason was making an appearance didn't mean that superstition had truly left the spotlight. I had a couple run-ins with some rather suspicious fellows, but I took care of them quickly and quietly, and got a hell of a feeding out of them too.

I had to move around a bit from time to time, seeing that sometimes a hunter of the supernatural would get a little too hot on my trail and start searching for answers. Of course after things died down I would return to the village that eventually joined the whole of Heidelburg and after my third return to the now town I met one of Maxis's ancestors for the first time. Otto Dietrich Maxis was a curious man, as was I, but I kept my distance from him, I didn't want to get too involved with the family just yet. That would be for a later time, after all being twenty-five forever did give some benefits.

I was alive when Colombus found the Carribean and South America, and the Pilgrims sailed to Plymouth. The Americas were all the rage, but I knew I would never survive the voyage there especially since I could only travel at night. When many of the European revolutions hit I mostly went into a long slumber and slept off the days and nights until one of my ghouls woke me up to tell me that it was over. The results were sometimes good for me and sometimes bad, but I digress.

Clothing changed, fashions changed, the buildings around me changed, even the people changed. The new young adults that roamed Heidelburg, I knew their great, great, great, great grandparents and yet they didn't really recognize me. When the Industrial Revolution hit that's when my time to really shine came to be. Reason and science were becoming more and more of a factor in life, towns were growing and that meant more humans to feed on, but that also meant more competition. Luckily the Prince of the area kept things in check.

The unification of Germany was an amazing feat for my nation, and I was very happy that I no longer had to refer to myself as a Bavarian or a Berliner. As time accumulated I started to feel the tug of the numerous years on my vampire mind. Even though I was happy to see reason triumph over superstition I was also somewhat remorseful of not being able to truly see what the world had become. My sister, Angelica, had died a very long time ago and Wilhelm had been killed by his own villagers after they caught him feeding off of one of them. The two daughters were later found and killed for their father having been a vampire.

Still I wouldn't be satisfied until the age of real innovation came around, and when the nineteenth century hit it was truly my time to shine. I came out of my long isolation and began my return to the world, picking up the new technological advances and fashions along with the new forms of media. The knowledge of mathematics and science were a great boon to me and I could even learn from the men who wrote the books, but I usually didn't since booking meetings only at night was still a bit dodgy. It was also during this time that I did start to take an interest in the Maxis family.

Ludvig Maxis in particular, I watched as he grew up into a formidable mind akin to my own. I began to use my unnatural powers to create a host body in the form of my teenage self (according to the standards of the nineteenth century). For years I played a great scherade of a young mind rife with the struggle of orphan-hood, but still willing to learn of the academic paths of life. The host body was thankfully able to withstand sunlight and I made it age accordingly, until it looked exactly as I was then. I was able to attend the university that I had watched been built years ago and always wanted to attend.

That's when the worst happened, a world war broke out and my host was no longer viable to use. "I" a vampire of then nearly seven centuries old had to fight in a war involving humans and their own petty squables. I had fought in a war before, but at least this one wasn't on the basis like the Crusades were, this one had partial non-religious reasons which gave me bit of lee-way. Before I had joined Group 935 and set up a network of friends that I found could help me find a way to very great power.

_"Little did I know then that my past would soon catch up with me when 935 found the one thing I had protected centuries ago." -Edward Richtofen_


	6. Chapter 6

_"When Group 935 found the location of the ancient place I believed that humanity could use the power vested within it for a greater purpose. I was never so wrong in my unlifetime." -Edward Richtofen _

Upon entering the familiar domain of northern France I took care to avoid any daytime work, and when I had the time I looked for Leopold. Unfortunately I was informed by another childe of his that our sire had gone into a deep slumber, which I didn't see as surprising seeing that he was a Methuselah. At least I knew he was still alive, but he was still intent on keeping the power of the ancient place out of human hands. I, on the other hand believed that the power could be used now, if not for humanity than for the Kindred.

Even though I would not do anything in the way of helping the army or Group 935 find the place, in time they would discover it, regardless of Leopold's wishes. When the German army discovered the church they eventually found the tunnels underneath and thus the excavation began. Leopold had woken from his torpor and was intent on stopping the kine from reaching the power of the ancient place. His efforts were in vain, however, as Maxis had already studied and recreated the ancient staff parts when the originals had gone missing. Not to mention the fact that they'd already dug up the divinium and were analyzing it.

His final effort was consoling with me to stop 935's excavation into the site, I replied as so "The kine found this power on their own, and besides you've only got yourself to blame you charged yourself with defending this place, but you obviously failed." His response to my answer was very...enraged, but he couldn't bring himself to kill me. To do so would raise suspicion in the ranks of the army and they would eventually trace my death to Leopold due to the fact that some of the soldiers were already my loyal ghouls. I remember his very final words to me before he left the kine and myself to dig into oblivion.

"I found much promise in you Edward back in the days of kings and queens, but now I see that time has changed you as well. You're just as corrupt as the kine have become with their new discoveries and rising powerlust. When the worst of the ancient place comes in its defense you will have only yourself to blame, for you too were once a protector of this power. Now I see that the young templar I once knew is gone and there is only left a cold-hearted, godless vampire left to the mind rot of time like so many before. Auf Wiedersehen, Edward, I hope that I never have to see your face for the rest of my unlife."

His words rang true when the kine dug too deep and further than I had ever gone when the tunnels were still very much intact seven centuries ago. It all happened at a rapid pace, the first wave were those of my templar brothers who in turn slaughtered those in the digsite and the men who'd become ill from the divinium turned into the degraded "walking dead". Even Maxis, who had resisted for so long had succumbed to the illness and I had no choice, but save his brain and thus the work done with the element. It was all too soon, I can remember thinking to myself, maybe I had been too close to the kine at too old of an age (vampirically speaking). That was when I found my new unofficial comrades, the descendants of the original three Templars of the Ancient Powers.

They looked almost exactly like their ancestors, give or take a few minor details. Tank Dempsey, descendant of Clarence Dempsey of Bath whose other descendants migrated to America. Nikolai Belinski, descendant of Baron Alexei Belinski and still full-blooded Russian, but with an incessant need for women. Takeo Masaki, descendant of Haru Masaki and still with the same quiet and strong demeanor of the Orient. It was like old times, if old times meant slaughtering hundreds of walking corpses intent on ripping you to shreds was anything like keeping infidels out of the catacombs of the church that lay close by.

Thankfully when the giant robot, Thor, tried to crush us in the labs it was a heavy cloud cover, meaning I could freely walk about without having to worry about turning to dust. Working with kine, however, meant keeping my true power covered which meant no using my supernatural strength or reflexes. We toiled for hours and even days that turned into weeks until we were able to stop the influx of walking dead and end the zombie onslaught at least for a couple of decades while the world healed. Of course I couldn't let the three go on with the knowledge of 935 so I had to use my powers at the last moment to wipe their memories to ensure Group 935's security.

As World War I ended the few decades reprieve was not kind to me, especially when I had to find Maxis a new body and had a very close call with Final Death when I unknowingly walked out into sunlight and was terribly wounded. When I healed I found myself aged another decade and thus it is why I look this way now. I didn't really mind though, I believe that the age just made me a bit more "vampiric" so to speak. Anyway as the events leading up to World War II went on my work with Maxis and Group 935 continued to progress until again my past caught up with me. My connections in Group 935 and the Illuminati forced me to unleash the zombies once more in order to "cleanse the world and start a new age of prosperity".

And it was at that moment when I obtained the note to kill Maxis that I became a true vampire in mind, no longer did I care for humans for they sought their own destruction and who was I to stop them. I gladly let loose the zombies once more and one fateful night in Shi No Numa, the little girl Samantha, she made a deal with me. If I played nice with her zombies and stuck to her game she would keep the sunlight from hurting me and allow me to work with the other three as we fought the undead. I agreed, but little did she know that I would take her place as the controller of the undead and therefore no longer be forced to the confines of my vampiric condition.

Through Shi No Numa we fought the walking dead, and through Der Riese, onto Kino Der Toten, then Ascension, Call of the Dead, Shangri-la, and finally to the Moon where I took my rightful place as master of the mindless dead.

_"Now I rest here in the Aether, the ancient place and the ancient power that my sire and so many after him tried to protect from human hands. Ironic to know that the power they defended from the kine would fall to one of their own. And here I am, watching as the last pockets of humanity struggle for their survival, but of course they brought it on themselves. I just gave them a little nudge out the door, or should I say off the cliff. However, my vampire mind tends to weep, why I don't really know anymore. The Malkavian vampire blood has left me insane since I got it, but the voices don't trouble me anymore, however, their damage was already done...Hmph, looking at it all now ever since I was born and how I was so "Godless" it appears the tables have turned for I myself have become a god. I believe that my father looking up from the fiery chasms of Hell realizes the mistake he made when he made me resent all the works of the good Lord. All of this started with my struggle against the muddled minds of those who believed in a higher power, and without that distraction look what 'I' have become." -Edward Richtofen_


End file.
